From: Pat Blunsden about HANGIN’ WITH THE TRUTH
At first I thought I could never want to read a book featuring places and characters I had no interest in. Anyway I usually prefer non-fiction stuff. As I had liked your previous books I decided to give this one a go, and was very surprised when I was drawn straight into the human side of the story and found it difficult to put the book down until I found out what happened in the end.
Whenever you see Western movies it seems the streets and roads have an army of sweepers to keep them clean, in 'Hangin' With The Truth' you describe how awful they really must have been, and that's something I'd never thought of!
Life seemed very raw, hard and brutal in those days - I wonder if those who went out with the wagon trains (I assume you call them the same over in the US as we do in the UK) really knew what they were in for, especially with subjecting their young children to any new sickness they'd be in contact with, and to the violence which seemed to be around every corner for anyone in the wrong place at the wrong time.
You seemed to have woven all of that into your story, along with showing that Bob Slye and Sally Mae Boudine had a decent side to their characters along with the bad!
Some Questions!
1.Was the land acquisition in those days as easy as it seemed to be in your story?
2. Why was Bob Slye so attached to his hat? Or did I miss that bit?
3. Some of the bad language the characters use in the book has upset some people (though the same language can be heard today whenever a bunch of school kids is near). Did you consider this, or did you go ahead with it anyway because it made the conversation between Bob and Sally Mae more realistic for the time they were living in?
Thank you!
The objective of the Homestead Act of 1862 was to populate government surveyed lands. If one had the money and the will to prove-up their claim within the allotted amount of time, it was a fairly easy process.
Bob Slye’s hat to him was a badge. The Boss Of The Plains hat was created by John B. Stetson in 1865 to be waterproof, durable and elegant. They were fairly rare and quite expensive.
The use of bad language was researched for the time. Bob was reserved with regard to using it. Sally Mae was a different story altogether. Being a woman in the Old West, especially a bandit, one had to act and be tough.
